


It's a Disaster

by ryukoishida



Series: Walking Disasters [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-29
Updated: 2015-01-29
Packaged: 2018-03-09 15:30:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3254924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryukoishida/pseuds/ryukoishida
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Synthetic Humans, also known as SH for short, are a type of technologically advanced artificial intelligence that has been aiding humans in a world distraught by extreme weather caused by global warming for the last century. Yamazaki Sousuke is an SH designed for navy warfare, and Matsuoka Rin is a SAR officer trained to save people’s lives; together, they make a formidable team during SAR missions. But when the SH population of Earth decides to rebel against their human counterparts due to a suspicious virus, chaos ensues and true apocalypse begins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's a Disaster

**Author's Note:**

> It’s double-layered the darkness in this AU: “The Day After Tomorrow” weather, plus android rebellion.

“Yamazaki! Do you copy? I repeat: get back to the surface right this instant! Team Beta needs to pull out A.S.A.P. Sector W-08 is not stable anymore.”

 

‘Something’s wrong,’ Yamazaki Sousuke blinks, the sea green of his irises an alien glow in the murky waters.

 

His heart doesn’t beat because he has none, but if he does possess one, his heart muscles are probably constricting tightly against his chest at this moment, and it’s not even because he’d be unable to breathe underwater. His body feels no temperature or pressure either, though he knows that the water is cold enough to chill his skin to a worrying shade of blue and gives him a serious case of hypothermia, and the force from the depth is strong enough to make his ears pop painfully. Sousuke is thankful that he’s free from all those physical constraints that humans are constantly restricted with.

 

He switches channel, cutting off whatever order Lieutenant Serizama is about to yell at him. He never can stand the man’s nasal, gravelly voice, especially when the pitch has been heightened to this level of annoyance.

 

“Yamazaki-senpai, you have about five minutes to get out of the range of the eruption,” Mikoshiba Momotarou’s chirpy voice informs him. “Oh, and if you and Rin-senpai can live through this, you guys are in so much trouble. I can hear Serizama bitching a mile a minute on the other channel.”

 

He blinks his eyes to shut off the entire network in his body. Momotarou is going to be pissed since his signal would be completely wiped off from the vehicle’s GPS navigation receiver, but he can deal with that later.

 

Everything else can wait until later because he doesn’t have much time left.

 

Sousuke has already tried contacting their team leader before he shuts off his communication device, but there has been no reply. The haunting silence – not quite silence, really, but the soft, almost-there hisses of white noise that indicates the absence on the other end – is stifling.

 

Their carrier has detected an additional SOS signal from another shuttle further north to the one they were originally called in to rescue; in addition to the distress signal, they also received a very choppy message from one of the civilians onboard. They made out the words, “Help… operator… crazy… Shit – ”, some other choice swear words, and what could have been screams in the background before communication got completely cut off.

 

So under Rin’s order and despite their commander’s direct order to retreat as soon as they have retrieved the target, they have decided to venture out on their own, certain that they will be successful in saving more survivors who are unfortunately the victims of a series of continuous underwater eruptions in this region.

 

By the time Sousuke reaches the shuttle, a fire engine-red capsule shaped like a metro train cart that got stuck in between the jagged ridges of boulders at the bottom of the ocean floor, the white lights inside are flickering erratically. Even through the momentary flashes of darkness, he can tell almost immediately that there are no survivors to be rescued inside – humans or animals – except _something_ is clawing weakly at the window, and it’s making a pathetic tap-tap-tap noise that’s almost muted by the oscillations of the water.

 

“Rin?” The water swallows his voice, though no bubbles of air escape. Behind the dark shape closest to the window and under the splashes of fluorescent light, bodies are piled messily on the floor. He remembers the terrified, high-pitched voice pleading for help over the crackling of the communication device.

 

He thinks he can see slivers of red hair, but that can just be a trick of the trembling lights. He swims closer, eyes brightened in caution, and he sees a metallic arm locked firmly around the figure’s neck against the notch of his diving armour between the helmet and the suit, rendering him useless and immobile.

 

The crimson of the eyes inside the fogged-up helmet is wild with panic and thrashing arms soon slacken to weak slaps against reinforced glass.

 

“Sousuke!” He thinks he can read on his lips, but he isn’t sure anymore because there’s a moment of white blankness in his system – fear? Horror? Anger? – and then he’s shooting forward like lightning, tearing the metal of the door – depressurization chamber and all – with raw strength, and Sousuke can hear the metal of his limbs squealing in protest.

 

Water rushes inside with a silent roar and in a few short seconds, the shuttle is swallowed whole from the inside-out by the ocean. The bodies inside the capsule are floating spookily around Sousuke – some of them still with their eyes wide open as if they can’t believe death has descended upon them – as he pulls himself inside the shuttle, and wrestles Rin’s limp body away from what turns out to be an older model of android that supposedly operates the capsule – “Survival Capsule A-11 Operator” is stamped across its metallic arm.

 

Its eyes are glinting red, signifying that it’s running out of battery, and with the fluid ease of any models of the marine combat type SH, Sousuke snaps off the arm at its hinges that is still attached to Rin’s neck and get them out of the shuttle, the robotic voice mumbling “warning… warning… water pressure ris…ing…”.

 

The oxygenation setting that allows the oxygen in the water that passes through the suit to be extracted into breathable air has long been damaged, the dial displaying the level of oxygen inside the suit dwindling dangerously in the red bar. Sousuke has calculated it beforehand, and has insisted Rin to switch his armour before diving back down again, but Rin was yelling something about “not enough time, damn it!” He just wouldn’t listen to anyone when he gets like this; he never does.

 

Always surging headfirst without ever considering the consequences; that’s just who Matsuoka Rin is.

 

At times, his tenacity saves lives; other times, it causes other people trouble. His tendency to ignore orders aside, Rin is an exceedingly good team leader, always looking out for his teammates and coordinating their tightly-knitted group in such an efficient manner that Team Beta is almost like a second home to them: they are comfortable with each other enough to joke around and hang out during off-duty days, but they are also capable of working seamlessly as a team during missions.

 

Sousuke never felt this kind of camaraderie during his one year working for the Navy. Some days, he thinks he must be broken in some places, treating terms like “home” and “family” as if they are anything he can relate to.

 

Sousuke kicks harder, faster, a trail of silvery bubbles propel after him like a promising whisper in the silence of the swelling ocean. His arm reflexively tightens around Rin’s torso a little more and his large palm spreads across the area of the suit that’s right above his heart. It’s murmuring weakly, just enough to inform Sousuke that the man’s life might end any second within his embrace. ‘Carbon monoxide poisoning,’ the database inside him coldly adds.

 

The sensation that begins to rise inside of him at the knowledge of that – a feeling not unlike the sluggish lava that’s crawling out of the earth’s crust a few feet beneath their bodies, as natural and steady as the Earth’s rotation around the sun, but as deadly when it dares to erupt without the slightest warning – makes it suddenly very difficult for Sousuke to compute logically. Snatches of incomplete thoughts and hazy images zap around his processor ferociously like summer lightning: Rin limp and lifeless in his arms, his lips cold and blue with asphyxiation, eyes closed peacefully but would never open again…

 

He tries to shove those unpleasant pictures aside as an emotion he recognizes and labels as ‘panic’ begins to seep in, and here Sousuke has always thought that all these inexplicably human qualities are beneath him.

 

It’s getting brighter above his head, and he thrusts his legs with more vigour still, Rin’s body bumping solidly against his frame with each strike, reminding him. “Rin, Rin, Rin,” he chants silently with each thump, thump, thump to his side. “Live, live, live,” Sousuke hopes he can hear him as strands of oily light touches his skin.

 

He highly doubts it.

 

As they finally break through the surface of the water, he quickly swims towards the Beta amphibious vehicle that’s anxiously waiting for the pair’s return. The first underwater survival capsule that the team had successfully retrieved awhile back is safely latched behind, bobbing lazily between oscillating waves.

 

Even before they reach the rescue transport, Sousuke can hear Momotarou’s aggravated yells. “Idiot! Why the fuck did you switch everything off? I had no idea where you guys were!”

 

“Nitori… Where’s Nitori?” Sousuke isn’t even listening as Momotarou continues babbling caring profanities at his general direction while helping him heave their unconscious team leader onto the deck. The young navigator and operator of the vehicle takes a quick, careful glimpse at Sousuke’s pained expression – so unbridled and openly vulnerable – shuts his mouth, fluidly pulls Rin’s helmet off and places an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose before he runs off in search of the team’s medical specialist.

 

Sousuke takes this moment to lean against the guard railing, hand shakily brushing back black locks that has plastered wetly over his forehead as his shallow, ragged breaths slowly return to its normal pace. Under usual circumstances, Sousuke would be the one handling patients with critical conditions since he’s the most capable in terms of paramedic technology and knowledge, but right now, he’s happy to hand that responsibility to someone else.

 

For once, he can’t trust his own judgement. Mind not bustling with overwhelming data anymore and feeling oddly blank, he just wants to breathe in, breathe out, even if he doesn’t technically require oxygen to operate. It almost feels like he’s alive that way.

 

-

 

“I want an explanation,” Commander Tatsuya Utsumi, the highest ranked officer aboard _JDS Noriki_ , demands quietly from behind his desk.

 

“Rin – Sergeant Matsuoka went down to retrieve another survival capsule upon receiving a distress signal close by. He was in the water for too long and I got worried, so I went after him,” Sousuke tells him, his back rod-straight.

 

“Even though Lieutenant Serizama had specifically ordered the both of you to withdraw after your assignment is completed.” Sousuke notes that it’s a statement, not an enquiry. Something inside him snaps, and he isn’t prepared for what comes exploding out of his mouth next.

 

“What the hell was I supposed to do then? Just leave my team leader to fend for himself?” His rough voice rises in anger. Utsumi raises his eyebrows and Sousuke remembers his place. “I apologize, sir. But that’s all I’ve got to say.”

 

“Yamazaki, how long have you been serving with us here at the PNERU?”

 

Sousuke figures it’s one of those rhetorical questions that humans like to ask to make small talks, but he replies anyway. “Since June of 2675, sir.”

 

“So you would say about two years, correct?”

 

Sousuke nods, unsure of where his superior officer is going with this.

 

The man continues in a grave tone, “And before that, you were with the Navy for a year.” This time, he doesn’t wait for Sousuke to make a response. “Then you should understand perfectly well the importance and necessity of following orders given to you regardless of your status as a SH member of this unit.”

 

‘Ah, so that was where Utsumi is going with this conversation.’ He resists the urge to grimace.

 

Next thing he knows, Utsumi will start lecturing him about the basic duties and expectations of a human SAR technician being equivalent to those of a Synthetic Human in the same position, despite the fact that a SH, especially of the Yuki no Same series that Yamazaki Sousuke is, which is designed for the multi-purposes of aiding in marine warfare, as well as search and rescue missions. The YS series is known for excelling in every aspect of the assigned job descriptions without breaking a sweat – a fact that many humans outside the field deem either disagreeable or simply intimidating, claiming that the massive growth in SH numbers is gradually replacing humans in these dangerous job positions.

 

Yet SH models like the YS series are needed everywhere in this era, a time when Earth is distraught by continuous attacks of weather extremes caused by the devastating effects of global warming, and in recent decades, the SH industry flourishes. From the aspects of everyday life like cooking and cleaning to military technology in the sea, the sky, and on land, SH and other older models of androids that look less like humans and more of the robots that they are are steadily becoming more and more indispensible.

 

Sousuke is not about to let a little human commander of the goddamn Navy branch to get the better of him – not when he can literally crush his bones with the slightest clench of his fingers. Hell, Utsumi may not even mean his speech to be offensive. Sousuke finds that some humans are funny like that.

 

So after twelve minutes and twenty-five seconds of Utsumi speaking grimly from across the meticulously tidy desk – yes Sousuke has been counting – it seems like he finally feels satisfied enough to dismiss him, but not without some parting words.

 

“You’re required to complete an after-action report and will receive a warning letter for disobeying your immediate superior, and Yamazaki, one last thing.” Utsumi makes sure that he’s paying him utmost attention before he goes on. “Having personal attachment is not a good idea in a work setting like this, especially when there are both civilians and our own comrades’ lives to consider. There are boundaries you know you should not cross, for the best of your own interests, and those whom you care about. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

 

“Yes sir,” Sousuke gives a curt nod, salutes, and turns to leave the office before Utsumi can change his mind.

 

Utsumi’s last statement lingers in the air like a clinging film of fog that Sousuke cannot shake away, and he can’t help but feel irritated, and a little bit frustrated at himself for losing control and reason when Matsuoka Rin has needed him the most. Without the ability to make sensible decisions because of certain flawed programming in his system, he becomes a liability. He can just as easily go visit his mechanic from the repair and maintenance department to request a data wipe-out – assuming that that’s even the problem to begin with – but perhaps experiencing these human rapports like _fear_ and _panic_ and _family_ and _friends_ can be helpful instead of viewing them as a kind of burden.

 

Or perhaps Sousuke is being simply too optimistic.

 

As he trots down the crowded atrium, the insignia of the Pacific Naval Emergency Rescue Unit – green wreath carried by a white dove with the words ‘Sic Alius May Ago’ flowing regally across on a golden banner above it – watches over the residents of the vessel. Excited chatters overflow the contained space as Sousuke winds himself gracefully in between bodies, hearing bits of “Can you believe him? Matsuoka actually risked his life to save a pile of scrap metal?” and another bit of “With his capabilities, if he wasn’t one of ‘em fucking SH sympathisers, he would’ve been promoted ages ago.”

 

“Excuse me,” he mutters as he meanders carefully around a small group of gossiping officers, who let him pass without a second glance, not knowing that he’s one of those mentioned piles of “scrap metal” they keep referring to because on the outside, he looks just like any other human beings.

 

Technology in the robotics realm has been advancing faster than ever since the late 2500’s; from the time when they discovered the algorithms to input data that can synchronize and create artificial empathy, SH are programmed to be sentient beings, able to scan and read humans’ feelings through means of anything as miniscule as twitches in facial muscles and change of pitch in voices to something slightly less subtle like body language in order to express the appropriate emotional responses. If people don’t inspect too closely, humans and Synthetic Humans look and act essentially the same. It’s the more obvious things that humans tend to forget to search for: the absolute, unnatural stillness of their bodies, the lack of bodily functions like eating and sleeping.

 

Sousuke has long grown used to the hostility some humans feel towards his kind, but the way some of them are talking about Rin makes him start. He suppresses the surge of rage and runs the rest of the way to the infirmary where Rin’s sent to after they have returned.

 

He can’t remember the last time his emotions shake up with such violence and within such a short span of time. It’s as if an entire ocean is residing inside of him, setting in motion, and he has no command over the storm’s movements. Letting something other than his cold intellect and logic take charge of his body for a change is a foreign sensation; he’s almost fearful of the unpredictability of it. After all, his mechanism all depends upon meticulous and systematic calculations.

 

“Sousuke?” He blinks dazedly at the sound of his name and realizes that Rin must have called him several times already while he stands at the doorway of his room. “You coming in or what?”

 

His brows are furrowing slightly, bright red locks falling into his eyes as a confused smile grazed his lips. A tablet with the screen facing down lies forgotten on his lap as he looks searchingly at the approaching male.

 

“You’re an asshole, you know that, Matsuoka Rin?” is the first thing that bursts out of Sousuke as he easily straddles the plastic chair beside the bed. “An obstinately righteous asshole with a hero complex, going after those people like you’re goddamn invincible.”

 

“I see Utsumi had had a meeting with you as well, huh?” Rin ignores his friend’s venomous tone and asks. Having worked together for the past two years, and helping Sousuke fend off more unnecessary SH insults from their fellow rude officers than he wants (though Sousuke has always insisted that it doesn’t matter – that they’re built not to care), Rin knows Sousuke well enough by now that this is his way of asking him how he’s doing after said incident.

 

Sousuke nods dejectedly, arms thrown and crossed on the back of the chair.

 

“What happened down there?” Sousuke taps his fingers against the plastic, but stops when he senses Rin’s curious glance.

 

“It’s just as you’ve probably seen for yourself when you came for me,” Rin sighs, running a hand through his already messy hair and causing them to stick up in different directions. “When I got into the shuttle, those people – ” He gulps, looking away from Sousuke’s questioning gaze, “they’re already dead. I’m not sure what their COD is, but it must have been recent; their bodies are still warm. Something must have happened during the ten to fifteen minutes it took us to get there. And we all heard that message from one of the passengers as well… It doesn’t make sense.”

 

“It does,” Sousuke counters sharply, “when you think about it.”

 

“The operator android?” Rin looks up, crimson irises brightened in alert.

 

“I mean, it _did_ try to strangle you,” Sousuke reminds him, his tone dripping in sarcasm.

 

“You think the robot’s gone rogue and killed everyone onboard?” Rin’s frown deepens, and Sousuke wants to tease him about it badly, the sudden urge coming out of nowhere and he has to force himself to concentrate on the more important issue here, not the fact that what he wants to do more than talking about this grim topic is smoothing the worry-lines off of his friend’s face.

 

“Can you think of any other logical scenarios?” Sousuke thinks he hasn’t paused for too long for Rin to suspect anything.

 

“How, though? Those robots are perfectly programmed to act as the guide within the shuttle and help the passengers when the survival capsule is activated during times of crisis. Unless someone has tinkered with it beforehand…” Rin chews on his lower lip in deep thought, and Sousuke’s gaze unconsciously focuses in on the action, that blood is rushing to his bottom lip and making it plush and temptingly red.

 

“They’re all controlled from a central system, right?” If his voice sounds strained and hoarse, Rin doesn’t comment on it, just tilting his head to the side and wondering if his friend is coming down with a cold. Then he remembers that Sousuke is incapable of having a cold; he always seems to forget that Sousuke is – and always will be – a little different from him and his other team members, and for some strange reason, that reminder constantly brings a tightness in his chest late at night in the quietness of his bed chamber when he occasionally cannot fall asleep.

 

“Right.” Rin nods in response. “So whoever fucked around with the androids did it from one location; the person wouldn’t be that stupid to do something like this on site either, especially with the high security surrounding government sectors.”

 

Sousuke raises an eyebrow at him, as if asking him whether he really trusts government security that much, and Rin laughs weakly, getting his point exactly.

 

“Okay, so let’s say this person, or group of people, hacked into the system from a remote location and enter some sort of command for the androids to harm any humans within the their sights. What’s their objective?”

 

“We’re SAR officers, not detectives,” Sousuke says, a hand ruffling his red locks as Rin tries to squirm away to no avail. “Perhaps we should leave the investigating to the professionals.”

 

“If only we’ve retrieved that rogue android though,” Rin laments with a exhalation. “There’ll probably be traces of evidence in it that might point us in the right direction.”

 

“Our duty is to rescue people in need. We followed our orders – maybe more than we could chew this time – and we completed our mission with minimal damage. You should be satisfied with that.”

 

“You’re right, Sousuke,” Rin chuckles, shaking his head helplessly. “And maybe we’re just overthinking things, you know? Maybe it’s just a malfunctioning on the android’s end.”

 

Sousuke nods, though not fully convinced. But it’s just as he has said himself; there’s no point in sticking their noses into government affairs. It’ll only bring on endless trails of troubles.

 

When neither of them has anything else to contribute to this conversation topic, Sousuke remembers the reason why he comes to visit Rin in the first place.

 

“Rin,” Sousuke starts slowly, hoping that he isn’t crossing a line, and Rin looks up with a wary expression, almost as if he’s afraid of what he’s about to hear. “I respect you as the team leader, and as your friend, I trust your judgment, but I honestly wish you wouldn’t do that.”

 

“Do what?” Rin looks startled at he serious tone the SH is using.

 

“You had me… and the rest of the team worried, you know that? No reply through the communication device after I’ve tried to contact you for five minutes. Do you know how fucking scary it is to have to hear silence on the other end?” His voice is shaking slightly by the time he reaches the end; he used to have better control than this, and he wonders what has happened along the way during the two years he’s spent with this human who would sometimes have the worst anger management issues, is stubborn as a bull, and yet has a heart bigger and more accepting than any other humans he’s come to known.

 

“I-I’m sorry?” Rin sounds unsure, only wishing to placate the dark-haired SH.

 

“I don’t need an apology,” Sousuke says quietly, and when he meets Rin’s gaze, his own irises are glinting with a shade of soft teal that’s almost vulnerable in the harsh white lights of the infirmary. He reaches a hand out – trembling a little, not knowing if _this_ is all right – towards Rin, who still has his eyes trained on Sousuke’s, and gentle fingers cradle the red-haired sergeant’s cheek, a thumb tracing the delicate line of his cheekbone.

 

Sousuke can’t help but think that with just a bit more pressure, he has the capability to crush this human’s skull. Despite their similar and painfully humanistic physical aspects, Sousuke understands this much: he and Rin are two entirely different species. This shouldn’t stir up such a distinct storm in him, yet it remains that whenever this obvious fact presents itself stoutly in his head, Sousuke finds himself feeling dissatisfied – furious, even – wanting to fight fate despite knowing that it is not destiny that stands in their way but a society that’s been shaped through centuries of logical approach and scientific revolution.

 

Sousuke removes his hand from the warmth of Rin’s skin and places it casually across the back of his chair again.

 

“I wish you’d be more careful with yourself; you humans are such fragile creatures.”

 

“I have you to save my ass though,” Rin laughs softly, though the sound does not quite touch his eyes, even if they are bright with genuine gratitude and something else as well. “Like today.”

 

“I won’t always be here.”

 

Rin understands, as well as Sousuke, that once a SH’s usefulness has run out – broken beyond repair during missions, replaced by shinier models – they will be disposed of without a second thought. From the moment Sousuke has been activated and became conscious, he knows how his so-called life will end; it’s only a matter of time and circumstance.

 

 _Scraps of metal._ Sousuke remembers the disdainful tone that comes with those words. That’s all SH and androids are in the eyes of most human beings: useful only during dire situations, machines that excel at the purpose of their creation, faked and synthesized emotions fashioned for the convenience of communication, and most importantly of all – they are not and never can be humans, just the mere illusion of life.

 

“Now you’re the one who’s scaring me,” Rin chuckles nervously, a restless hand running through his hair as his gaze turns downward.

 

“I apologize,” Sousuke returns with a tiny smile. “Shall I make it up to you?” There may or may not have been a playful glint to the SH’s eyes as he leans in a degree closer, but Rin isn’t sure if that’s just a trick of the light or if it’s the medication swimming pleasantly in his system that’s fucking up his brain and perception.

 

“Wh-what are you proposing?”

 

Sousuke turns his seat around so that the chair back is now actually supporting his vertebrae before he speaks again, propping an elbow on his crossed knee and his chin resting in his palm as he inclines forward.

 

“You know how I had that serious talk with Utsumi just before I came here?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Well, in addition of reprimanding me for not following orders, he also warns me not to get too emotionally involved with the people I work with and not to cross certain boundaries.”

 

“Meaning…?” Rin’s forehead is crinkling with frown lines once more in confusion, and Sousuke almost wants to laugh out loud, but he manages to force his voice to remain neutral.

 

“Fair warning: I’m about to cross that boundary that shows that I’m definitely too emotionally involved.”

 

“Oh?” Rin gives a jittery laugh and leans back against his pillow, Sousuke’s crouched body looming closer still as he gets to his feet. His artificial breaths fan across Rin’s flushing cheek as he places a gentle hand on the back of the red-haired man’s neck, and he lets his eyes flutter closed with a visible, anticipating tremor. “S-Sousuke?”

 

Any trace of rational thoughts vanishes as Sousuke touches his lips – possibly a few degrees cooler than a normal human’s – firmly against Rin’s. He may not be as warm or soft as Rin, and he may not have blood that rushes to the surface of his skin as humans do under this situation, but just the fact that his fingertips are warmed by Rin’s blush that’s running from his neck to his face in all but 4.7 seconds from their mouths’ first contact and a spike of increase in his heartbeat are almost enough to make Sousuke believe.

 

Sousuke doesn’t let up – wanting to rile Rin up further and make him shake and shatter inside – and takes advantage when Rin opens his mouth slightly, biting the redhead’s lower lip until he lets out a muffled moan, one of his hands sliding into Sousuke’s short, onyx locks and the other fisting the material of the SH’s shirt against where his heart would be located if he has one.

 

When they part for air – well, Rin’s the only one who requires it, but Sousuke is panting slightly as well, and since when did he learn how to kiss like that? – Sousuke’s eyes are glimmering bright electric blue-green, lips shiny with Rin’s saliva, while Rin blinks dazedly, lips looking so thoroughly kissed and invitingly red that Sousuke almost wants to dive back to start another round.

 

“Hmm… interesting,” Sousuke lets the syllables roll out slowly, his hand still in Rin’s crimson hair and playing with a few strands between his thumb and index finger.

 

“That’s your conclusion? ‘Interesting’?” Rin shakes his head, but there’s a mischievous smile that lights up his face before he barks out an amused laugh at the next thought that crosses his mind. “Shit. I bet Utsumi will have a field day if he finds out about this.”

 

“Then let’s keep this a little secret between us.”

 

“Agreed.”

 

The mechanical whirring of wheels rolling across linoleum floor causes them both to break from the hushed conversation and they turn simultaneously to see a medical bot has entered, its paint pristinely white with its screen on its abdomen showing certain updates on patients’ statistics and its beady, non-blinking eyes staring straight ahead.

 

“I thought the next check-up isn’t due for another hour?” Rin looks beyond Sousuke’s shoulder and directs the inquiry at the medical robot that’s still coming towards their direction seemingly without any intention to pause or answer Rin’s question.

 

From the absolute silence of the android and its lack of response that indicates its comprehension of Rin’s words, Sousuke immediately senses that something’s not right, and he stands up before Rin like a shield in a protective stance, hands balled up and ready to fight when prompted.

 

Rin knows as well, and his mind quickly returns to the operator android that’s still buried under the silt of the ocean floor. He detaches the IV needle from the back of his hand with a wince and rolls off the bed so he can stand beside his best friend.

 

Although given what they’ve just done, Rin isn’t quite sure if the term “best friend” is enough to apply to what they are anymore. Either way, now is not the time to ponder on something like this.

 

“Stay back,” Rin warns, eyes narrowing threateningly though he knows it has no effect on a robot that’s not programmed to be sentient. “Return to your assigned medical bay this instant.”

 

When it continues forward in the same pace, ignoring Rin’s command, the android takes out a pointed instrument that both can recognize as some sort of surgical knife from one of its many compartments in its body.

 

It’s obvious that the android is not listening, or its actions are being manipulated by something that’s outside of its individual mechanism. Sousuke is the first to react, coming straight up to the robot with his strides radiating with purpose and menace, and strikes it with his fist before the medical bot can even have a chance to raise the weapon clasped tightly in its metal appendage, knocking it off the ground and causing it to crash into a nearby steel cabinet filled with expensive medical equipment and bottles of medicines.

 

“Rin!” Sousuke nods towards the doorway, and the red-haired man swiftly grabs his laundered uniform from his bedside drawer and follows his friend out into the hallway of the infirmary bay.

 

The usually quiet and serene part of _JDS Noriki_ is bursting with a newfound sense of activity, the place buzzing with noise and running medical personnel that are attempting to rush towards different directions all at once. Yet after walking past a few more doors, Sousuke and Rin realize that this is not due to a sudden influx of injured patients that sometimes happens when there’s a massive natural disaster that causes hundreds of wounded civilians and officers to be sent here and cared for.

 

The recognition of reality sends chills down Rin’s back, and his hand unconsciously searches for Sousuke’s, who grasps his hand tightly without a single word while tugging him along, their pace quickening as they run past other medical androids cutting down unsuspecting human patients or injecting human staff with deadly substances while they struggle and scream for help, SH visitors throwing their human acquaintances against the walls or metal cabinets until the rooms are stained with and stank of fresh blood accompanied by dead or almost-dead bodies lying nearby, and people screaming desperately in chaos, angry and helpless, demanding or begging for aide but receiving none.

 

Just the cold, dark mid-gaze of an unfeeling android as it sends them to their ends.

 

“Locate Momo and Ai,” Rin wheezes, his leg joints already feeling like they’re on fire, but he pushes on. He hopes the two younger members of the team are doing all right; they’re smart kids but there’s no telling what’s going to happen during an unexpected emergency like this, especially when it involves one-third of the vessel’s population attempting to murder the remaining populace in an enclosed space in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

 

“Already did,” Sousuke informs him collectedly, pulling Rin to one side to dodge an incoming medical bot wielding a pair of silver scissors and giving it a hard kick for good measure before they dash on. “They’re waiting for us at the atrium.”

 

Winding through the maze of hallways and narrowly escaping from a few medical bots that have taken an interest in chopping them up with dainty pieces of pointy and sharp surgical equipment, they end up in the atrium of the vessel, where the situation isn’t any better.

 

The news of androids and SH going on some sort of killing rampage is rapidly spreading like wildfire, and all the human officers, technicians, and general staff are looking around madly like lost animals as they shove through the crowds to search for their next senior commander in line as fast as they can for any kind of instructions while grappling for the closest thing they have as a source of weapon in case they run into one of the rogue robots.

 

“I knew this day would come,” a man donning a SAR sergeant uniform mutters to his friend in near hysterics, tears running down his face and armed with a silverware knife in one hand, presumably taken from the dining hall when the alarm has sounded. “I knew they’d be trouble the moment we decide to employ them here!”

 

Sousuke and Rin run past the distraught groups, frenzied from excitement or fear or a poisonous mixture of both though none of them spare the two a suspecting glance.

 

“Rin, Yamazaki-kun, over here!”

 

Over the heads of the hordes of people milling around them, Sousuke, the taller of the two, spots the leader of Team Alpha waving at them urgently from the far end of the foyer, and they begin to force their way against the current of panicked people to get to where their colleagues are.

 

When they reach the little group tucked by the corner of the hall where it’ll be at least isolated enough to carry a conversation without anyone eavesdropping or interrupting, Rin is breathing harshly, and he’s leaning almost his entire weight against Sousuke’s side.

 

“Rin-senpai, Yamazaki-senpai!” Mikoshiba Momotarou and Nitori Aiichirou – navigator and medical officer of Team Beta, respectively – flail towards them in a teary reunion, and Rin receives his junior officers with an open-armed embrace and a sigh of relief that they both appear to be unscathed.

 

“Tachibana,” Sousuke nods his salutation at Team Alpha’s leader, Tachibana Makoto, a young human male with scruffy light brown hair, gentle green eyes that lights up at the slightest hint of joy, and a tall and sturdy frame that can rival Sousuke’s, but the SH narrows his eyes viciously when a dark-haired SH, a different model than himself though produced in the same year, shifts to stand in front of the brunette, his posture clearly exuding hostility.

 

“What do you want, Nanase?” Sousuke growls, and Rin has to pull on his hand insistently to stop the dark-haired android from stepping even closer.

 

“It’s okay, Haru,” the leader with the soft eyes and friendly smile places a pacifying hand over the shorter android’s shoulder, who breathes out of his nose in a manner not unlike a petulant five-year-old. “Yamazaki-kun is fine, right, Rei?” He directs his question at the glasses-clad man wearing a white lab coat standing close behind him, his voice calm but authoritative.

 

Rei gives an affirmative nod after a quick check on his tablet. “It looks like YS-0914-2673, otherwise known as Yamazaki Sousuke, is unaffected by whatever virus that has attacked the other androids’ systems.”

 

Only with Rei’s confirmation does Nanase Haruka, Team Alpha’s SH member of the Natsu no Hokkyoku series that boasts to have the frosty personality and cold intellect of Arctic gale but passion and energy of summer for their work in the waters, backs away and returns to the leader’s side, though the glower from his electric blue irises does not slacken one bit.

 

Sousuke looks to the side, lips pulled down in a scowl, but says nothing.

 

“Does anybody know what the fuck is happening?” Rin asks the question everyone has been wondering about, and his eyes hone on to the manager of the maintenance department, who looks somewhat startled at the attention he’s suddenly receiving. “Rei, you said something about a virus?”

 

“Y-yeah.”

 

“Perhaps we should talk on the way,” Makoto suggests as he checks the communicator bracelet on his wrist, a slight frown lining his brows. “We have to get out of here before the situation gets worse.”

 

“Did you receive instructions from the higher-ups?” Rin asks as they walk side-by-side, the remaining members of their team following close behind.

 

Makoto shakes his head. “I tried contacting Lieutenant Serizama and the other team leaders of our battalion, but none of them have replied so far. I just hope they are safe.”

 

“There’s a very low chance that they sustain little to no injury with the amount of damage that’s already been done on this vessel,” Haruka replies calmly, his pace never straying too far from his leader’s, and Makoto merely heaves a sigh, knowing fully well what the android says is probably true. There’s no point in them dwindling in this confusion that will further endanger their own lives when they can escape while they’re still in full strength and have the means to do so.  

 

“To the loading wing?” Rin asks for a confirmation. The loading wing is where the SAR teams’ various types of amphibious vehicles are parked and maintained; each team has their assigned set of vehicles that they can choose from depending on the environments of the locations they are sent to.

 

The area is also mainly operated by working robots and SH staff that specialize in mechanical engineering, since the entire process of vehicle maintenance can be done almost entirely without human manoeuvre.

 

“Best chance we’ve got,” Makoto gives a swift nod.

 

“Won’t the area be swarmed by psycho-killer robots?” Momo pipes up from behind.

 

“Sixteen of them, to be exact,” Haruka informs after a quick check of the security camera system. “Many of them had wandered off to various parts of the ship when they got hit by the virus.”

 

“Fifteen now,” Sousuke updates with a smirk. “Seems like a human – no, two of them – are attempting to take them out one by one.” He sounds vaguely impressed and just a tad bit amused.

 

“Ah, that would be our medical officer and navigator,” Makoto says, and the corner of his lips quirk up into a proud grin that’s also laced with worry for his teammates. “Nagisa and Gou volunteered to go ahead and get everything prepared – emergency supplies, weapons, the like.”

 

“And you let them?!” Rin explodes when he hears his sister’s name, looking at Makoto like he has totally lost it, wide, crimson eyes filled with sudden onslaught of anger that causes the taller leader to stagger and back away slightly. “Makoto, what the fuck are you thinking?”

 

“Rin, stop,” Sousuke forcefully pulls him back and has to cage the smaller man within his arms as he thrashes around wildly, trying to grab onto Makoto, who looks like he’s been slapped across the face, expression sunk crestfallen. Haruka inches forward when Sousuke gives him a warning glare; the blue-eyed SH halts, but only because Makoto is once again murmuring in that soothing tone of his, “Haru, it’s fine.”

 

“No, it’s not – it’s fucking not!” Rin doesn’t know why he keeps trying to get out of Sousuke’s iron confine; hitting his friend’s metal alloy arms wrapped in a material that closely resembles the texture and temperature of skin will only result in Rin’s fists getting bruised. He knows this, but Gou is his only sister – the only family – he’s got left in this world, so how dare Makoto, one of his best friends and most-trusted colleagues he has on this vessel who should understand her importance to Rin, lets her venture into such a dangerous mission on her own account?

 

“Rin, calm down,” Sousuke mutters fiercely in his ear, his arms tightening just the slightest when Rin refuses to back down. “Tachibana knows what he’s doing. And Gou – don’t underestimate her strength. She’s strong; that’s how she made it this far within the division. Have faith in her and Hazuki, and let’s hurry to them before anything serious can occur.” After several seconds, Sousuke feels his friend slackens against him with a frustrated growl, head lowered and his back falling weak against Sousuke’s chest. When he’s certain that Rin won’t try attacking Makoto again, he lets his arms fall back to his side.

 

‘Faith,’ Sousuke thinks. It’s such an illogical notion – a disillusioned belief not based upon any proof – that still somehow provides humans with comfort, as fleeting as it may be.

 

“The more time we waste, the less likely we’ll be able to get out,” Haruka reminds them, and at that well-timed cue, the group sets off again.

 

“If anything happens to Gou…” Rin is walking beside Makoto once more, fists trembling by his side as he glares up at the taller brunette, who looks him right in the eye. The sentiment doesn’t need to be said out loud; Makoto can read it clearly in his friend’s expression.

 

“I know,” Makoto says simply, tone soft.

 

“Ryuugazaki, you mentioned some sort of virus before. Tell us what you’ve found out so far,” Sousuke asks with a quietly firm tone.

 

“A-ah, yes,” Rei pushes his signature red-framed glasses up the bridge of his nose as he comes up beside him before he continues. “A few weeks ago, one of my co-workers located a seemingly insignificant virus that had infected one of the medical bots in the infirmary and was causing eradication and random modifications to the patient and medical instruction database, which can be life-threatening for patients under this bot’s care. He didn’t think anything of it at the time – just fixed the problem, wrote a report, and that was the end of that. But remember the monthly operative system scan I had you and Haruka-senpai run last week?”

 

Sousuke nods in reply. The technician who normally does his routine checks was sick that week, so under Rin’s suggestion, Sousuke had decided to visit Team Alpha’s preferred technician instead.

 

“Well, we discovered that same virus code inside both of your systems. It was dormant at the time and hasn’t been triggered yet, so all of your memory is still intact and has remained uncorrupted. Of course, we eradicate it immediately and double-checked for any other infections, which we found none, thankfully.”

 

“But that doesn’t explain why there’s currently a massive killing spree led by androids against humans,” Sousuke insists. “I presume the maintenance department is smart enough to run detailed virus scans for each and every android and SH member on this ship after you’ve discovered this virus on several other robots?”

 

“You’re right, we did.”

 

“Then why is it that only Nanase and myself who are unaffected?”

 

“Not just you two,” Rei corrects as he consults his tablet again. Sousuke is surprised that the human hasn’t tripped over anything yet by this point. “There are several other SH here that have escaped infection as well and I think I may have a vague idea why.” 

 

“We’re all ears,” Rin adds, a bit breathless from all the running they’ve been doing. He feels that sooner or later, they’re going to come across one of the rogue androids; they’ve just been plain lucky they haven’t run into one yet.

 

“If my prediction is correct, the virus isn’t actually completely gone from your operational systems yet.”

 

“But you said…” Sousuke starts.

 

“Yes, we’ve eradicated what we found and we _thought_ we’ve gotten rid of the last traces of it, but it looks like this particular virus is exceptionally resilient. Even with the bits of chopped up codes scattered in different places within the hard drive, it was somehow able to locate its missing counterparts and recreate itself; after that, it’s just a matter of replication when certain programs are run. When enough of the hard drive is contaminated, the infected android will lose its sense of so-called ‘self’ and will begin to follow commands input by the virus-creator that’s inscribed in the virus code itself.”

 

“So… you mean to tell me that,” Sousuke tries to clarify the computer jargon the glasses-clad man is throwing his way, “I still have the virus inside my system. It just hasn’t been triggered yet?”

 

“Actually, it might already have been, but that’s the other thing I was about to explain.”

 

“We are basically a bunch of ticking time bombs, in other words,” Haruka adds helpfully.

 

“Thank you for your contribution, Nanase,” Sousuke snaps at him with acid, but Haruka just shrugs with such nonchalance that it’s taking Sousuke a lot of self-control to not jump at him. Instead, he turns back to Rei with another question, “So what makes the few of us SH different?”

 

“Emotions,” Rei announces, and doesn’t wait for Sousuke’s further prompting to continue. “I’m still not quite sure how this works, but basically, androids designed with the sentience algorithm inbuilt within their systems will develop emotional bonds – either with fellow SH or other humans. These emotional bonds seem to act like a firewall against this virus; so the stronger the bonds, the sturdier the firewall, and therefore, the less likely that the virus can contaminate and spread within the infected android.”

 

Haruka has probably heard Rei’s explanation already – the much longer version, from the vacant expression on the blue-eyed SH’s face – but Sousuke and the other members of Team Beta are taking their time to digest the new information.

 

“If that’s the case,” Rin murmurs as he looks to Sousuke, who probably has the same thought crossing his mind, “that would explain why the shuttle operator and the other mechanical-type robots that are not installed with sentience are vulnerable to the virus.”

 

“We’re almost to the loading wing,” Haruka declares quietly.

 

Just before they round the last junction to arrive at their destination, however, a shocked yelp of “oh shit!” brings all their attention to the front where Makoto is still leading them.

 

Something has toppled across their way just at the turn of the corner, which has surprised the leader of Team Alpha into taking a hasty step back from what looks like a crumpled body that’s convulsing uncontrollably and moaning in muffled pain.

 

The man – Makoto thinks that’s a male from the person’s tattered attires – reaches out with a blind hand, searching for anything to hold on to and latches onto Makoto’s ankle; he flinches at the contact, but only for a fleeing second before his professionalism takes over automatically and he crouches down with concerned gold-green eyes.

 

“Sir? Sir, can you hear me?”

 

He gently pries the man’s fingers off of his foot, slippery with carmine and smelling of copper, and takes his pulse when he succeeds. His signs of life are not good, but now he’s looking up at him with frantic eyes, blinking rapidly as blood from a cut on his temple drips down into his hazel eyes.

 

“H-helrr ––” His words are slurred by gurgles of blood foam that dribbles out instead of syllables. Makoto’s hand tightens on the stranger’s fingers as the man chokes on his own blood – powerless, begging, eyes gradually dimming, and life simmering out of his slackened body.

 

Makoto murmurs a silent apology, lets go of the man’s hand and is about to straighten up, when Haruka’s warning shout of his name forces the brunette to look up, only to see a flash of rusted silver before his eyes and a sharp jag of pain along his back as he gets flung against the wall.

 

“Makoto!” The blue of Haruka’s eyes sparks with a soft, anxious light towards the fallen man, who’s groaning but is at least able to get back up on his feet with some support from Rei and Rin. When he’s certain that his leader is safe, he turns and glares at the android that has harmed Makoto, which appears to be one of the mechanic robots that works in the loading wing, according to the crest emblazoned across its box-shaped chest.

 

“Bastard,” he snarls under his breath, cerulean irises glimmering cold and distant as he takes long, purposeful strides towards the robot that is now aiming a screwdriver at the three men huddled together, ignoring – or blind to – Haruka’s advancing figure.

 

With one arm, Haruka has the android held back in a chokehold, its appendages flailing defenselessly against Haruka’s better-made titanium alloy frame; with the other hand, he hooks his fingers under a few well-placed nooks on the robot’s head and _pulls_.   

 

All the humans present understand that these kinds of operational androids have no concept of pain or negative emotions, yet as the squeaks and squeals of metal against metal grate against their eardrums – the result of Haruka pulling the robot’s head off hinge by hinge so that screws and bolts drop tinkling onto the ground – they all but grimace at the raw brutality that the usually calm and graceful SH is capable of, and thank the stars that he’s on their side.

 

The blue-eyed SH digs a hand deep into the circuit boards connected by a mess of coloured wires and yanks out a small black box that can only be the robot’s hard drive. He crushes it with a clench of his fingers, the brittle material immediately giving in and breaks, and the damaged robot twitches twice before it comes to a complete stillness, the white lights that had been blinking wildly along its metallic frame snap off in absolute darkness.

 

“H-Haru,” Makoto ignores the other two men’s protest and walks towards his android friend, whose eyes are still sharp with fresh kill. His steps falter as he gets closer to Haruka, who’s standing unusually still with his back to him; he reaches an arm out, fingers just several inches from his shoulder, and he stops.

 

“Don’t, Makoto,” Rin calls out weakly, but Makoto’s expression and body language – the trepidation in his eyes, lips slightly parted that wish to cry out Haruka’s name but can’t, the fluctuation between wanting to hold him and back away from him – tells the red-haired man everything he needs to know: similar to his relationship with Sousuke, Rin’s always had a hunch that Makoto and Haruka are more than just colleagues and close friends. Their bond runs deeper than the blood in Makoto’s veins, and stronger than the metal alloy that makes up Haruka’s bones.

 

Without any warning, Haruka turns around and glances at the brunette from head to toe with the same unwavering gaze once.

 

“Um?” Makoto wrings his hands nervously behind his back.

 

“Scan complete: bruising on lower back, no detrimental damage,” Haruka reads out the result with such a clichéd robotic voice that Makoto finds himself letting out an uneasy chuckle.

 

Haruka blinks once, and with curious but definitely less threatening blue eyes staring at his leader, he asks, “Did I say something funny?”

 

“For a moment there, I thought I’ve lost you,” Makoto’s voice breaks like glass, and his hand is shaking, aching to reach out.

 

Haruka looks on with a slight frown, uncomprehending. He steps closer until they’re face-to-face, and he has to crane his neck a little to look up at Makoto. “What do you mean? Even if you lost track of me, I have a GPS system that can track your communicator’s signal; you will never lose me.”

 

Makoto’s laugh is a little watery, but the moment of hesitation is shattered and he reaches for Haruka’s hand, saying, “You’re absolutely right, Haru-chan.”

 

“Yeah, okay, as touching as this is, can we please go back to running for our lives?” Rin glances uneasily at the broken android still hissing with grey smoke.

 

“Sorry,” Makoto scratches the back of his neck, his cheeks tainting a dusty pink as he releases Haruka’s hand after a light squeeze.

 

A short and safe passage later, they find themselves at the top of the stairwell that will lead them into the loading wing.

 

Peeking from the side of the entryway, the loading wing appears to be quite deserted. All the vehicles are parked neatly in rows that expand from one end of the hall to the other; extra parts for replacement are categorized and organized on shelves that line tidily against the huge expanse of walls.

 

“Nagisa and Gou have loaded up both teams’ ATTCs; they’re currently hiding in Alpha’s carrier,” Makoto reports the message he’s received on his communicator.

 

At the news of his sister’s safety, Rin is able to breathe just a tad bit easier.

 

Sousuke runs a quick visual scan of the annex while Haruka checks the most recent camera footage.

 

“Thirteen of them left,” Sousuke says, glancing at the group and silently asking for the next step of action.

 

“Shall we sneak past them, or take them out?” Aiichirou wonders.

 

Sousuke and Haruka simultaneously share a knowing glance.

 

The YS series that Sousuke belongs to is designed for marine warfare, so he has more than enough ammunitions and weapons installed within his frame to last awhile during a decent confrontation, whereas the NH series that Haruka is in is intended for underwater exploration, so even though he has tools and various equipment perfect for collecting specimens and taking video footages of the ocean floor, he isn’t nearly as well-equipped in terms of artillery as he’d like.

 

“Nanase leads, and I’ll stick to the back,” Sousuke voices out the plan after Haruka gives a stiff, affirming nod. “If anything comes at us, we’ll attack, but all of you must keep moving no matter what happens.”

 

Around them, exhaust fans are running noisily in the background, which helps in concealing their footsteps as they descend cautiously into the wing and hide behind a row of barrels that smells faintly of grease.

 

After another quick scan and letting the rest of the group know of the locations of the androids so that they can watch out for them, Haruka begins to vigilantly lead them towards their waiting carriers, which are parked at the far end of the wing.

 

Rin knows that his hope for making it to their vehicles without any more hassle is futile, because it’s as if the androids can sense their presence right away, the familiar whirring of their tracked limbs are coming from every direction.

 

“Go!” Haruka mutters as he breaks into a run, and the others follow close behind, trying to spot for any incoming bots among the blurring scenery of silver-grey metallic walls and the beige-blue-green of the vehicles they’re passing by.

 

“Fuck,” Sousuke spits out, as an especially alerted android comes racing their way from behind. The teal-eyed SH whips out a rail-handgun from a hidden compartment on the side of his leg, aims at where he estimates the operating system to be – center of its tarnished body – with such a steady hand that no humans can dream to achieve, and fires with perfect precision, the projectile shooting with a blue lineation of light and hits the target with a dull _thunk_.

 

It’s not stopping. The shell causes a spark in the wires, and a small flame is ignited from its chest area, but it’s not stopping.

 

“The tracks, Yamazaki!” Haruka calls from the front, his voice sounding more strained than his usual tenor. He guesses he isn’t the only one having to deal with bothersome robots on his end. He takes in the other SH’s suggestion and aims for the android’s tracked base next, and the second shot sends the robot sprawling across the ground, rendering it immobile while it attempts to crawl towards them with only its arms still functional.

 

“Distance?” Sousuke now has to yell in order for Haruka to hear over the clutter of ear-splitting bangs and screeches of rusted metal.

 

“Fourteen meters!”

 

“Rin, Nitori, catch!” Sousuke takes out the remaining firearms he has on him – another hand-held railgun and an ion handgun – and chucks them towards Team Beta’s leader and medical officer.

 

Rin at least looks like he knows how to manage a gun; Aiichirou, on the other hand, is having trouble holding the weapon either out of mere inexperience or jittery nerves.

 

“I-I’ve never held a gun before,” the silver-haired young man informs no one in particular.

 

“Mikoshiba?”

 

“You can count on me, Yamazaki-senpai!” The orange-haired navigator sounds almost gleeful about the prospect of getting to shoot something. Aiichirou is nearly too worried about the possible consequences of Momotarou with a gun, but his impulse to stay alive is stronger, so he opts to hand the gun over to the other man, who begins to shoot expertly at the intended targets, accompanying each successful shot with whoops of victory.

 

By the head of the group, Haruka is having a close combat with a particularly unrelenting robot. One of its sharp tools has pierced through the blue-eyed SH’s skin and revealing the gleaming silver of his internal structure on his neck and cheek.

 

Rei is keeping as far away from the fight as he can, seeing as he’s the only one who does not have a valid weapon or related training.

 

Makoto keeps expecting blood to pour forth from the deep incisions but Haruka fights on, ruthless in the fierce glare of his cerulean irises and fearless in the way he swings his arm, wielding a plasma blade that glows lime green as he slashes across the joint between the robot’s head and body.

 

“Makoto, go, damn it!” Haruka tears a long gash on the underside, but it does nothing to stop its movements.

 

“Not without you!” Makoto dashes to his friend’s aide, pulling out one of the very few weapons an SAR officer is permitted to carry – reinforced Damascus steel blade – and attempts to stab the robot from behind.

 

Though it looks like any ordinary steel knives, this specially strengthened metal is capable of cutting through layers of the Earth’s toughest and hardest minerals; cheap, average alloy that is used to compose these operational robots is no match for the blade’s sharpness as Makoto severs the tracked limbs as easy as slicing butter.

 

The body clatters to the floor with a strident clang.

 

“Stupid Makoto,” Haruka murmurs, slightly out of breath, but his eyes are glimmering with silent thanks as always, and that’s all really Makoto needs for reassurance.

 

They keep running, afraid to stop, though their lungs are burning with exertion, and blood and sweat are running down their faces.

 

“Rei-chan, Mako-chan, Haru-chan, hurry!” A head with recognizable blond hair pops out from one of the vehicles parked to the left just a few feet ahead of them.

 

“Nagisa!” Makoto’s voice is fatigued but filled with relief.

 

Before they can hop on to the vehicle, however, another straggling robot that has been hiding on the roof of one of the nearby carriers jumps down, its landing wobbly but is eventually able to stand upright.

 

Both Sousuke and Haruka raise their weapons in readiness, but it doesn’t even get a chance to advance any further.

 

A shot of blue-white light blazes from one of the opened windows on Alpha’s ATTC, burning a hole the size of a tennis ball right in the center of its body and setting its operating system on flames in two seconds flat.

 

“You’re welcome.” Another person joins Nagisa’s side – a young woman with bright crimson eyes and deep scarlet hair tied in a high ponytail – giving them a toothy grin as she repositions her railgun, which is a much bigger and more intimidating version of what Sousuke has.

 

“Gou, you’re okay!”

 

“Of course I am, onii-chan!” Matsuoka Gou scoffs in exasperation, but still, she’s glad her older brother is safe and sound. She sends Sousuke a knowing smile, though the android tries to play it off by dragging Rin and their team’s two younger members off to the control carrier of their own ATTC.

 

Between the nine of them, they must have destroyed most, if not all, of the remaining androids that are still milling around in the loading wing, because by the time they manage to get the gates to open manually, no manic-killer androids attempt to stop them, and the glittering azure surface of the Pacific Ocean that stretches to the horizon is ready to greet them with its grand embrace.

 

After confirming the total number of personnel that have managed to escape _JDS Noriki_ unscathed through the radio network – most of them, like Makoto and Rin’s teams, have decided to forego seeking help from their commanding officers earlier and flee on their own assigned team vehicles, but some of them are less thoughtful in regards to stocking on supplies and are now left with little to no food reserve – the carrier grows quiet.

 

It’s the kind of serenity that almost feels surreal after the near-death experiences they have all been through today. The waves lap gently against the side of their carrier in a lulling pattern and the hum from the water jets is calming.

 

For once, Momotarou is quiet, only breaking the silence occasionally with a brief reply over the communicator as he concentrates on his steering, checking on the radar every once in awhile or looking out the windshield with a solemn expression that’s rare on the usually cheerful and boisterous youngster.

 

“You think Momo will be all right?” Rin murmurs to his friend sitting adjacent to him, his gaze shifting from the navigator to the silver-haired man sitting across from them, who’s equally quiet. The redhead hisses when Sousuke winds the bandage too tightly over the cut on his upper arm, and he loosens the material a little before tying it up in a neat knot.

 

Sousuke looks up briefly at Rin’s observation and says, “It’s just the adrenaline wearing off. They’ll be fine.”

 

Rin cradles his injured arm carefully with his healthy one, and sits back in a languid sprawl, his limbs relaxed and pliant.

 

“Is it just as bad back on land?” Rin wonders, head balanced on the back of the bench and eyes wincing against the fluorescent light scattered on the vehicle ceiling.

 

“Who knows?” Sousuke replies with a sigh, placing his arms behind his head. “But we’ll have to expect the worst.”

 

“Hmm.”

 

A moment during which they share companionable peace, neither one is looking at the other.

 

“Rin.”

 

“What?”

 

“If what Ryuugazaki said about the virus is true…” He stops there, mulling over his next words.

 

Rin sits up straighter, sensing the change of tenor in Sousuke’s baritone voice.

 

“Go on,” the redhead invites him warily.

 

“Wouldn’t it be better to just throw me overboard now?” His tone is disconcertingly calm, the humming of the vehicle almost veiling his soft voice. “As Nanase has said, we are ticking time bombs; one moment I would be acting normal but the next I could be trying to… hurt you, or Mikoshiba, or Nitori.” He swallows hard, and Rin watches his Adam’s apple bobbing with the motion, thinking how simultaneously absurd yet wonderful it is to crave and love and care for someone who doesn’t even need oxygen to operate, yet that being is just as human as everyone else – licking his lips when he’s nervous, laughing when he’s in joy, kissing and holding tight when he falls in love.

 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Sousuke. You can swim, remember?” Rin tries on a humorous tone, but thinks he’s only half succeeding.

 

“You know what I mean.”

 

Rin rolls his eyes, turning to look at the SH properly this time; his crimson eyes are burning with a kind of intensity that Sousuke is unable to look away from.

 

“Yes, and I’ll say it again: don’t be ridiculous. You won’t suddenly turn around and try to stab us in our sleep.”

 

“How can you be so certain?” The dark-haired SH is not letting up, teal eyes growing progressively more anxious.

 

“Because you saved me, and the other two, so many times I’ve lost count,” Rin tells him impatiently. His hands catch Sousuke’s and he doesn’t even know he’s doing it until Sousuke is staring at their entwined fingers, and Rin’s cheeks turn almost as red as his hair. “Your emotional bond with us is strong, so don’t think even for a second that we’re going to give up on you just because some dodgy statistics are telling us possibilities that are so minuscule and unlikely.”

 

When Sousuke doesn’t speak, Rin’s tone softens a little, leaning in and looking up at his best friend with such trust and affection that Sousuke isn’t sure if the heat he feels inside where his heart would have been located is normal. “Have a little faith in us, will you?”

 

That word – _faith_ – again.

 

Sousuke blinks, his mind going blank but full of something warm, like _home_ , like _friendship_ , like _love_ and _Rin_ – and the next second, he’s pulling Rin in by the back of his neck, the breath knocking out of the redhead as he falls without resistance into Sousuke’s arms.

 

“Sou –– mmph!” His name is swallowed by Sousuke’s mouth, and it’s not just the syllables of his identity, either. Strength and resolve leave him in tremors and whimpers as Rin’s fingers found their way into the SH’s messy hair while the other hand has a light grasp on his broad shoulder. He clenches his hand, bunching up the material of Sousuke’s shirt, when the SH nips his lower lip gently, as if reminding him to breathe, because Rin has somehow forgotten that he’s a human and the lack of oxygen from their kiss is making him dizzy.

 

“Called it!” Momotarou calls from the front, grinning broadly, and Aiichirou has his hand over his mouth with a delighted giggle.

 

Sousuke merely gives them the middle finger, which causes the two youngsters to laugh even harder though they know better than to further interrupt their senior officers’ time together.

 

In a world where extreme climates are as unpredictable as human behaviours, they design artificial intelligence to help them fight against nature. Now, as the remaining survivors of _JDS Noriki_ sail across the endless, uncharted waters with no destination planned or known, these men and women come to realize that a new age has been cast upon them. The storm clouds are gathering in to blind the brilliance of the sun, and they must find their paths in this dawned darkness.

**Author's Note:**

> Holy. Shit. Uh, if you’re now reading this author’s note, CONGRATULATIONS for making it this far because wow this monster of a fic has – as per usual with my writing these days – grown out of control. 
> 
> If you couldn’t tell already, I don’t actually read or write a lot of sci-fi genre, so a lot of the stuff regarding robots and computer viruses and shit, I just read it up on the Internet, so if you found mistakes, please don’t hit me. I did come across something interesting while doing my research regarding current robotics tech though, which is that Japan is actually starting to build robots with sentience that can become human’s companions/friends in the future. If they have the tech to start doing something like this now, I’m sure in the year 2600s – assuming the human race is still around – there’ll definitely be androids like Sousuke and Haru who can develop emotional bonds with others. 
> 
> Also, just as a side note, in my head, team leader!Makoto also has a robotic right arm – lost it during a mission once – but I don’t think I’ve mentioned it. And Haru is literally Makoto’s childhood friend; Haru has passed away (maybe due to one of the natural disasters?) but they manage to input his memories into a robot. I want to develop this idea further so maybe I’ll write some more android AU for the MakoHaru festival next month. 
> 
> Until then, I still have a fic in the works for SouRin Week day 7 for a crossover AU, so please stick around and check it out!


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